Chapter 203 Recovering Memories

The instant Vivian awoke, the entire space-time froze, then gradually dissipated like a dream.

Rome vanished, and the falling Mount Olympus, after being stained a gray-white, was broken down into its most basic information units. Poseidon's temple, the demon hunters' legions, the network of light paths covering the sky...

Everything solidified in an instant and was gradually swallowed by darkness, just like every time it was traced back. In the end, only the temple hall where Hao Ren and his group were located was preserved, turning into a static space-time with only black, white, and gray.

Hassu, who had been running all over the hall, was finally able to stop. He took a breath and turned to look at the now-static Olympian descendants, twitching the corner of his mouth: "I finally caught up."

Vivian shook her head twice, seemingly suffering from some aftereffects after being awakened from her previous muddled state. Then, she saw the collapsing, dilapidated temple and the static Olympian "gods," and a look of nostalgia appeared on her face: "You've already come to the day of Olympus's destruction..."

Hao Ren nodded subconsciously, then immediately reacted: "Wait! You know what's going on?"

"Thanks to your efforts," Vivian said with a faint smile, affirming Hao Ren's guess from the side, "You constantly recovered my strength and soul fragments, finally loosening the suppression of this twisted space-time on me. Now I can contact those fragments that you have awakened... Although some are still vague, at least my memories can connect."

This was truly unexpected good news. Before Hao Ren could say anything, Lily, who was standing next to him, jumped up with a whoop: "Awoo! At least we don't have to re-explain the worldview to you every time!"

Vivian didn't say anything, just smiled slightly, and turned to look beside her. She saw Hesperides looking at her with excitement, as if she was ready to pounce on her at any moment, while on her other side stood the little Hesperides who had been frozen in time: the little bat spirit still retained the appearance of the last moment of the space-time freeze. She hid beside Vivian, looking nervous and excited. The little one was not afraid of the sudden fight between a large group of people at all, but was extremely happy because she could watch the excitement in her mother's arms.

She was completely like a little brat who didn't mind a bit of excitement.

After watching like this for a while, a complex expression suddenly appeared on Vivian's face. She gently stroked the little Hesperides' head, as if she was murmuring to herself: "Yes, I left you in Rome back then... I forgot for many years before I remembered."

"Vivian-sama..." Hesperides couldn't help but open her mouth softly when she saw this scene, and rarely showed a hesitant look, "I..."

"You suffered a lot when you were little," Vivian beckoned to Hesperides, "Actually, I sent you to the sanctuary later just because I didn't want you to continue suffering. You know, you can't live a stable life with me..."

Hesperides was probably stunned when she didn't expect Vivian to take the initiative to let her approach, but she quickly reacted and plunged into Vivian's arms: "Wah—Mama—"

"It's been a long time since I heard you call me that," Vivian's expression was a little awkward. Being hugged by Hesperides and having tears and snot smeared on her body made her even more uncomfortable, but in the end, she just patted the little bat spirit's head, "Forget it, just this once."

Lily poked Hao Ren's arm: "Landlord, landlord, look, I told you Vivian is an empty-nest old bat, look at the atmosphere around her."

Hao Ren curled his lips: "It's not easy for her to repair her mother-daughter relationship, so don't complain."

Hesperides didn't lose control for too long, or rather, her long-term position as clan leader had trained her to have a very strong mental quality, and she could distinguish the priorities in any situation. She knew that the time Vivian could stay in this space-time was very limited, so she quickly adjusted her emotions and reluctantly raised her head from Vivian's arms: "Vivian-sama, how much of your strength have you recovered?"

She even changed her title for Vivian back—not for any other reason, but because she had used this title for more than a thousand years, and she was more familiar with it. As for the "Mama" just now, it was purely an outpouring of excitement.

"It's difficult to describe to you clearly the battle that took place in the deepest layer of the realm. My strength is constantly recovering, but the dark and corrupting factors are rooted deep in my soul. It is also抢夺those constantly returning strength. I become stronger, and it can also become stronger, so rather than saying it is a battle, it is more like constant competition. We are all trying to hold more strength in our own hands in order to gain the final dominance," Vivian patted Hesperides' head and turned to look at Hao Ren, "But don't worry, I have a必胜的把握 (bìshèng de bǎwò, certain victory)."

Hao Ren's heart skipped a beat when he heard the first half of Vivian's description, thinking that after all his efforts in collecting the soul fragments during the backtracking process, they were also strengthening the corrupted side of Vivian's soul at the same time, but he was surprised when he heard the second half: "必胜的把握 (bìshèng de bǎwò)?"

"I used to regard the corrupted side of my soul as another self. Even if it was chaotic, I regarded it as an evil enemy with an independent 'personality,' but not long ago, I discovered that it was actually already 'dead.' Although I don't know how it 'died,' I found that it can only follow a complex but fixed logic to operate. I make a stimulus, and it makes a fixed counterattack, just like..."

"Just like a computer?" Hao Ren blinked. He didn't expect Vivian's soul to have such complex "inside information," but in any case, what he was hearing now was good news. "So you've found the本体 (běntǐ, true form) of the corrupted side in your soul and figured out its activity pattern?"

"I've only grasped a part of the pattern and guessed its nature. There's still some distance from finding the本体 (běntǐ) of that thing," Vivian said lightly, but with full confidence in her tone, "I'll dig it out completely soon... No matter how deeply that thing is rooted in my soul, I will let it know who is the real master here."

Seeing Vivian's confident performance, Hao Ren could believe that she was definitely not saying this to comfort himself.

"Then I wish you all the best," he nodded, "I will continue to backtrack and try to send all your strength back as soon as possible—that way it will be easier for you to win."

Vivian hummed and suddenly looked at Hao Ren with a bright smile: "Then... see you in the next era."

Then she looked at Hesperides again: "You too, protect yourself in the dream, I hope you'll still be there when I wake up next time..."

Just like the hasty meeting after each successful backtracking, Vivian's awakening this time was still quite short. The twisted space-time was resisting her and quickly repelling her. In just a few words, she was already a near-transparent phantom.

However, after experiencing this scene many times, Hao Ren could face it calmly. He believed that separation was only temporary, and soon, he would truly rescue Vivian permanently from this long and twisted dream.

He was convinced of this.

Vivian's aura finally disappeared completely, but Hesperides was still staring blankly ahead. Hao Ren was afraid that something would happen to the little bat spirit, so he quickly waved his hand in front of her: "Hey, hey, wake up, wake up—are you okay?"

Hesperides was stunned for a moment, then suddenly began to mutter like a madwoman: "She said she wanted to see me when she wakes up next time, she said she wanted to see me when she wakes up next time... Vivian-sama said she still wants to see me! She said she still wants to see me!"

The little bat spirit's voice grew louder and louder as she spoke, and in the end, she simply danced and jumped around while shouting.

Hao Ren was dumbfounded: "...Is it necessary?"

On the other side, as Vivian left, Hesperides' figure suddenly shook among a group of Olympian descendants who looked like stone statues.

The next second, the gray-white figure was suddenly stained with fresh color. Hesperides did succeed in "smuggling" into this twisted space-time as Hao Ren had expected.

"Hi, sorry to keep you waiting," the Twilight Goddess raised her hand to greet Hao Ren and Hesperides, and then looked around, "Where's that damn Hassu?"

Hassu walked up with a righteous face: "I'm here—but we agreed that we wouldn't hold grudges for what happened in the past and this is just a historical mirror anyway..."

Okay, he wasn't righteous at all, he just had a poker face so you couldn't see his guilty conscience.

Hesperides looked at Hassu with a fake smile: "We've ceased fire, but I've been dragged into this history again, so now I'm really annoyed looking at your face—"

Hassu: "Okay, I understand your feelings, but if you still want to take revenge, I hope it can be after we leave here—the Earth outside is about to end, you can't take revenge for personal grudges at this time, right?"

Hesperides stared at Hassu for a long time, and finally waved her hand impatiently: "Tch—just seeing your face is annoying, but I still know what's important. Just don't get in my way."

Hao Ren finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw this: what he was most worried about just now was the relationship between Hesperides and Hassu after Hesperides came in. Although the two camps to which they belonged had signed a truce agreement in the outside real world, a truce agreement was one thing, and personal relationships were another. In addition, Hesperides had entered this space-time at the moment of Olympus's destruction, and it was difficult to guarantee that she would not affect the team's stability due to the issue of remembering national hatred and family feuds, but now it seems that all worries can be put down: Hesperides in the twenty-first century is not a rookie who spends money in 44 BC after all, she still knows what's important.

Thinking of this, Hao Ren couldn't help but feel a little emotional: Alas, the components of the team members are complicated, and the team is not easy to lead. In comparison, the team formed by the melon-eating tenants at home is more worry-free, whether it is the dog-man and woman combination, the fish-dog double wimp combination, the cat-dog-fish combination, or...

Speaking of which, why can't any combination get around dogs?